Are you looking for ways to engage your customers and attract new ones?
The strong visual appeal of Instagram offers a wide variety of marketing opportunities for businesses of any size.
In this article I’ll share four tips for successfully promoting your products and services on Instagram.
Use Hashtags
I know what you’re thinking—not hashtags again! And while it’s true that hashtag abuse is a serious problem, hashtags play an important role in Instagram engagement.
If you want to be sophisticated about choosing hashtags (of course you do!), research which hashtags are most popular or searched for.
Each of the hashtags has thousands of images associated with it. That’s a good indicator that many people are searching for these hashtags—which means people are more likely to find the company’s images.
Do your research to ensure the hashtag you commit to is active and thriving. A few popular hashtags you can start with are #throwbackthursday #tbt, #regram, #nofilter or #latergram.
Build Trust
Establishing yourself as an expert in your field, providing value and sharing social proof (via testimonials) that your fans love your products.
Do your Instagram posts pack that kind of punch? If not, brainstorm ways you can offer value to your Instagram followers. You’ll be setting yourself up as an expert resource and bringing attention to your product or service.
Connect and Collaborate
What better way to build brand awareness than to have an influencer promote your product? We’ll talk about it more in our influencer marketing blog but to convey the jist of it - it’s when a celebrity endorses a product or service that you offer.
Like other social platforms, Instagram has communities related to pretty much any industry. For example, Instagram has a large number of makeup experts that, as a group, garner tens of millions of fans.
The key to attracting attention is reaching out to a large number of influencers—the more your products appear in a user’s feed, the better.
As a small business, you should actively research which Instagram influencers are a great fit for your products. Chances are, their followers have the same interests and are potential customers.
When you’ve connected with influencers and found a few who really resonate with your audience, consider collaborating more with them.
Think about what kind of partnerships you can build and with whom, then go after them!
Post Regularly
Just like any other social network, the key to success on Instagram is frequent and consistent posting.
Instagram’s feed functions much like Twitter’s real-time feed—it’s constantly refreshing. That means it’s essential to post frequently so you can ensure visibility in your followers’ feeds.
Unfortunately, there’s no magic number of posts per day that works for every business. The best way to find out what works for you and your followers is trial and error.
Experiment with a different number of posts each day, at different times of day and then measure your results. Keep testing and tailoring and over time you’ll find the perfect formula for you.
Over to You
As a business, the possibilities for thriving on Instagram are endless. With dedication, patience and creativity, this social channel will increase your brand awareness and introduce you to new leads and customers.
If you are interested in starting your marketing journey with instagram but don't know how to do it. Then feel free to shoot us a mail, we will be glad to help you out. We can build a bespoke instagram marketing plan for you and your brand. If you want to learn how else we can help you, then do visit our services page.